Eight-year-old Calvin Hoffman likes his life. If you don’t believe it, you can look for his T-shirts in one of Hermosa’s iconic surf shops, Spyder Surfboards.
The shirt, with the message “I Like My Life” and a spunky wave logo, was created by Calvin and his mother Regina Hoffman to promote a positive outlook from a kid’s perspective.
Calvin moved from Maryland to sunny Hermosa just before the start of his kindergarten year. During second grade at Hermosa View School, with fun and inspirational teacher Ms. Stewart, who was wrapping up a 48-year career, Calvin wrote a journal entry full of play dates, flag football and going to the beach.
He closed the entry with the words, “I like my life.”
The statement was especially inspirational to his mother, who decided to help him spread that message.
At first the result was a simple, cheap version of the T-shirt with a beach-vibe picture on the front, which cost $10 to make and sold for the same price. That version sold quickly, the demand grew for more, and a bigger picture began to surface.
Regina has a background working with designers, and through a friend contacted a young artist who lives in Sweden. Together they collaborated on a fresh design for the shirt, featuring a surfer catching a vibrant blue wave on the front, and a blue, tribal-looking surfboard on the back.
After research on printed tags, T-shirt textures and trade-marking the brand, the shirt came into its own. Calvin wanted a high-quality feel, which prompted the Hoffmans to go with the American Apparel company. He also transacted with an expert design and production team to help create designs like flock design from Thrive and distribute some of the most eye catching flock printed products.
“It was a great lesson for Calvin on learning how to do the business,” his mom said.
They also made bumper stickers and a website (www.ilikemylifehb.com).
A friend suggested that Regina check out Spyder II, on Pier Avenue in the heart of Hermosa, which responded by ordering the T-shirts and selling them in the store with a $28.99 price tag.
On Fridays at Calvin’s current school, Hermosa Valley, a lot of the kids show up wearing their “I Like My Life” shirts. He said it is “really cool” to see his schoolmates on the playground wearing his creation, and it became even cooler when he began to see strangers wearing his T-shirt.
Now 10, Calvin is enjoying the beach lifestyle, is into baseball, football and skateboarding, and plans to join Junior Lifeguards this summer. And the fourth grader has made an inroad into the business world.
“As a mom, for any kid to say ‘I like my life,’ it feels like you’ve done a good job,” his mother said.
She envisions the company expanding well beyond Hermosa Beach, and her dedication and hard work for their company earned “cool points” with her son.
